I wanted to warn you that the cooking process is long (read: it will take up to 3 hours to make them); it also takes lots of patience, especially if you are a first-timer. But, when you pop one of these “top hats” or Nyonya kuih pie tee in your mouth, all your efforts will be wholly justified, I assure you.

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3 hours! oh myyyy, next time when I buy these from the nyonya stall or restaurant, better appreciate the effort they put into huh. thanks for sharing the recipe, as always .. your photo’s and writing inspired me to try them :-)

I’ll try the recipe using the pre-made phyllo cups and will let you know how it turns out. The made-from-scratch pie tee cups would of course be much better, but I can’t imagine spending too much time in my hot kitchen frying them up ;-). Thanks for the great visuals, Bee.

My late mom made lovely crunchy, crispy pie tee when I was a kid. Now I inherit all the nonya kuih moulds from her ( kuih kapit, kuih bangkit and kuih bahulu moulds.) I did it a few months back but it is a bit hard and not so crispy. I wonder where it goes wrong. I want to make pie tees for CNY reunion dinner.

Last june 2011 I bought my Pai Tee mould from Pasar Payang Kuala Terengganu – among others the shop also has brass ‘tepak sireh, brass wok etc. Just ask around – the people there are very helpful.
I’ve tried the recipe given – it came out very well.

Instead of using this recipe, i use fresh wonton pastry and mould around the handle of a whisk and deep fry till golden brown and use kitchen paper and wrap around the cooked pastry, gently pull the pastry out.Its quite time consuming, but it stay crispy overnight, must be completely cool before you put away. (preheat your cooking oil to 180 degrees and reduce to 170 degrees ) before you deep fry.I had a finger food party and went very well. Enjoy cooking.